Sadat Resthouse

"[...] Intended as a resthouse to be used on official trips to the isolated area around Lake Nasser in Nubia, the residence is actually made up of three separate buildings sequentially organized according to the status of each.

The first of these, which is located across from the parking area related to the main entry, was designed for the security police and body guards that accompanied the President on all of his official trips. Laid out like a caravanserai, the long and narrow one story structure has two different types of rooms with corner suites intended for men of higher rank. A single building located in the middle of a green strip of interior courtyard, in the position once reserved for a guard who kept order among the caravans in the past, is here turned into a dining hall so that the entire building may be totally self-sufficient. The second part of the complex is separated from the security block by a landscaped area and was intended for extended family and important guests. Joined to the President's house by a walled garden and a raised terrace that was to serve as an entrance platform for both, these quarters are essentially individual houses arranged within a walled compound. Divided into four large units on the southern side and ten smaller ones in both the centre and on the north, these houses are separated by narrow walkways and penetrated by courtyards that are open to the sky.

The Sadat resthouse, which occupies pride of place next to the water, is also divided into formal and informal areas which are each sized according to their needs. The formal area, which runs perpendicular to the entry, is a large vaulted space with a high dorqa'a set uncharacteristically off-centre within. This dorqa'a, in turn, relates to the open courtyard next to it as well as to a view to the lake, which is framed by the arcade defining the court's outer edge. Strategically located doors lead through a massive wall and past a smaller court into the family quarters, where many of the rooms also benefit from select views to the water." (constructed)